Pampas tour in the Amazon of Bolivia – day 3 swimming with pink dolphins
After my first day in the pampas of Bolivia and the hot second day, the last third day came fast. It was a horrible night. I spent it all scratching my legs. How I hate you, mosquitoes (despite the fact that you so love me!) Guys, just a good tip – please don’t just take the repellent but as well something to put on the bites afterwards. I didn’t have anything for the bites and I was suffering the whole night :(
Watching the sunset and the caimans the previous night, we opted for not waking up early morning for the sunrise. Even though our guide gave us that option, we preferred to sleep. And I think it was a right choice because then in the morning there was a huge storm.
But at least the air was fresh and not that hot and humid. Some of us woke up and realized they left the clothes outside to dry up and instead they got all wet with the rain. Another tip for those visiting the pampas – even if it is 30 Celsius degrees, don’t trust the weather and put your clothes inside for the night. The weather changes quickly in the Amazon :)
Disclaimer: I became vegan (= not eating any animal products) the year after visiting the pampas in Bolivia and writing this post about it. Sorry for all the meat mentions and photos.
guys left the clothes and they got wet in the storm
The breakfast was delicious again. Fruit, toasts, pancakes, salted pancakes, scrambled eggs, coffee, tea etc. We couldn’t finish it, it was so much of it.
our breakfast with fruit and pancakes
Victor, our guide, showed us little toucans and howler monkeys living just behind the ecolodge. They were so cute! I was running around there in the bikini and flip flops trying to catch a photo of the toucans but they were faster than me.
The howler monkeys were covered with the leaves so this is the only photo I could take. It’s so cool to have those wild animals literally living in your garden!
All ready, we hopped on the boat again and were observing the pink dolphins swimming around us. Each time I saw a dolphin, I got so amazed by its pink colour that then it was difficult to take photos of them, they are so fast swimmers. These were the best shots I could take :(
the back of pink dolphin in Yacuma river
a piece of dolphin captured
Just when we got to the spot where there are always some dolphins there, it started pouring down like hell!
raining in Yacuma river
It was the best time to jump into the water as inside the water it was warmer than outside. And yes, we swam with the dolphins. It was the first time in my life I swam with the dolphins in the real nature, in a river and with pink dolphins. They were all around us. I spent more than an hour in the water trying to swim after the dolphins to take a video or a photo.
That hour was one of the best hours in my life! I love swimming, I love dolphins, I love swimming in the rain and I love taking photos/videos.
swimming in Yacuma river with pink dolphins
girls from our group relaxing on the boat
Here is a short video of our swimming with the pink dolphins:
It just couldn’t be better! I didn’t want to get out of the water. I was the last one to get on the boat when we had to leave.
after swimming
Then it was the lunch time. We got a lot of vegetables, salads, french fries, meat … Delicious! Swimming made us extremely hungry!
lunch time
With full stomachs, we packed our things and got a bit of rest in the hammocks.
siesta in the hammock
oh yeah, loving hammocks
We looked at our ecolodge for the last time, said goodbye and all ready with the raincoats on sat on the boat.
last look at our ecolodge
with raincoats all ready for the rain on the way back to Santa Rosa
We spent another hour to get to Santa Rosa where we embarked on the first day. There we all bought some chocolate and pringles and by car back to the civilization to Rurrenabaque. It took us almost 3 hours. The roads were bad because of the rain, there was mud everywhere. But we got a very good driver who took us safely to the Indigena tours office in Rurrenabaque.
And than was the end of the trip. Good guide, good agency, good food, good experiences, good photos …
Tips about the Amazon of Bolivia:
- bring sunscreen lotion
- strong repellent
- a cream or something to put on the mosquito bites
- waterproof clothes
- raincoat
- water for the first day
- swimming suit
- 1 or 2 towels
- camera, recharged camera batteries
- 2 long pants
- 1 white T-shirt with long sleeves
- shorts and T-shirts without sleeves or with short sleeves for hot days
- sandals/flip flops and sport shoes
- a cap or a hat
My trip to Rurrenabaque pampas was done by Indigena tours. Thanks so much! I really had a great time! I chose Indigena tours because I really had a great time! I chose Indigena tours because they are the first company being certified by US AID for completing standards of quality and ecology during pampas tours.
Martijn Steijn
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Hey Alexandra,
How are you doing? I found this blog looking for more realistic information about Amazon Jungle tours in Bolivia. I like your slogan and style of writing this blog, it’s refreshing and good advertized, maybe even too good? I might want to use some of your personal experiences/opinions about traveling in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
¡Buen viaje y saludos desde Hosteria Izhcayluma, Ecuador!
Martijn
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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Thanks Martijn, I hope you can use my own experience ;)